Life
by Ice Jazz Elleth
Summary: A mysterious attack during the night and a fearsome attack at day leave Team Avatar shaken. The peace that had finally asserted itself has fallen and now new dangers threaten to topple all that they have built. The Team seems unstoppable but just what kind of force is it that can challenge these saviours of the World? Post Book 3


**Book Four**

_**Chapter one**_

It was the dead of night. Everything was dark. Peaceful. Guards marched upon the battlements, keeping their silent watch. Ready to defend the Palace and the Fire Lord if something should happen. It was their duty and their honour.

A silent shadow suddenly appeared from the ground, inside the walls. No sound was made as they came to their feet and walked straight towards the door, keeping to the shadows. The young guard had no chance. He hadn't even made a sound before he was out. The shadow slipped inside.

It was light inside the palace and it revealed a slender figure, clad in black from head to toe. She had long dark hair and her eyes were as cold as the winter sky. She slowly advanced, checking around the corners, avoiding detection. Suddenly, she stopped, paused outside the door, listening. A smile crept upon her face and she opened a pouch of water, bending the liquid until it covered her whole body, excluding her face.

Alarms went off in the distance. Ten seconds passed and the door was flung open. Out strode the Fire Lord, hastily dressed and ready for action. But not for it to come so soon. The water bender shot ice from her water clad form. The sharpened shards sped towards the freshly awoken firebender who reacted with quick reflexes, trained over the course of many years.

Zuko stepped back, fire coming to his hands, amber eyes settling on the form of the women surrounded by water. The alarms had come from the prison. His eyes narrowed. The prison alarms must have been set off so the intruder would have less guards to deal with. A quick thrust send a ball of fire heading towards the attacker but she pulled the water into an ice shield to block the flames.

But the fire bender wasted no time a kick was aimed her way, sending an arch of fire straight for the bender. The intruder had been in the process of pulling the water back to cover her body when this attack came and she let out a cry of pain as the fire seared her flesh but the cooling water soon washed over the injury and a pale glow was given off. At the same time as healing herself, she sent a lash of water aiming at the Fire Lord's feet, grabbing his left foot as he leapt into the aim to avoid the attack, fireball in hand.

Upon find himself being dragged back down towards the ground, Zuko let the fireball fire towards the long tendril of water. It burst and Zuko rolled with the fall, coming up onto his feet in one smooth roll.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded. Attacks had been made on his life before and generally, Zuko liked to know why.

"Wouldn't you like to find out," The bender smirked, suddenly rushing forwards. The water on her arms hardened into blades and as Zuko took a step back he saw his own weapons left in his room. There was no time to make a grab for them.

* * *

><p>It was an insult that they had put him here. A Fire Lord. The Fire Lord. The world had been at his hand and then the Avatar had taken it. That boy! And now Ozai's own son ruled in his place, leaving his father here to rot in jail. Weakened and broken now that his bending had been taken away. It was infuriating. Someone of his pedigree should not be here. What had he been but true to the Fire Nation? He had been a good and benevolent ruler. Was it his fault if other kingdoms stood in his way? Stood in the way of his people.<p>

So when the bells tolled out their alarm, Ozai did not move to see what was going on. He did not lower himself to the level of the common scum who pressed themselves to the bars, demanding they be freed by the mysterious presence. He didn't even spare a glance. Amber eyes simply stared ahead at the wall, listening to the cries and the pleas that were becoming deafening. Did they think they could escape the prison of the Fire Nation? It was designed for keeping the prisoners in. Ozai prided himself on it. No one could get out. No one could get past the Fire Nation Guards.

He ignored the fact that Iroh had done that. His elder brother was a nuisance.

Suddenly, he heard a sound, outside the door that lead to his cell. Muscles tensed slightly, ready for whatever happened before he remembered he did not have his bending. Eyes shot towards the door. It opened and the man's gaze hardened and his lips pressed together.

"Hello, father,"

* * *

><p>Anger fuelled Zuko as he battled the waterbender. The fight was infuriating. Every time he managed to strike her, the woman just healed herself while launching a fresh attack. He dodged as she threw a stream of water at him, narrowly missing the edge of the liquid, retaliating with a blast of fire, keeping it up in the hope that he would strike her and with the fire not letting up, she would have to give in. There was no such chance, she pulled the water straight back, hitting him aside as it went and then her form was glowing again.<p>

Zuko would give her this, she was good. Leaping to his feet, Zuko rushed forwards, feet blazing with fire as he aimed kicks and punches one after another straight at the women, giving her no time to attack him in return. She was left using her water to block the fiery onslaught and steadily retreating. The Fire Lord felt a small smile come upon her. The tides had turned it seemed.

Suddenly the building shook as if an Earthquake had struck it. The Waterbender turned the water around her feet into ice, holding still as the ground moved beneath her feet. Zuko stumbled but found his stance, heading straight back after her. Only to find a wall of water rush straight into him, hardening to ice as it went. He heated his body and escaped an icy encasement but she was gone. All that remained was a broken window. He rushed to it to see a hole in the earth disappear.

An Earthbender had been here also.

Eyes narrowed and then he looked up, glancing towards the prison. It glowed in a burning light. The whole building was on fire. Zuko decided that the stairs would take too long. Jumping out the window, he sent a blast of flames to slow his descent and landed on the ground, rushing to the stables to get a mount.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Said one of the guards rushing towards him. "The prison is on fire!"

"I know," Zuko said, trying to sound patient as he saddled up the bird.

"Oh, of course," The guard mumbled, stepping back, looking rather humbled.

"Get men on it, I'm going ahead," Zuko ordered, mounting the bird and heading off into the night.

His gaze was hard as he travelling, pushing his ride to the limit. His father and sister were in that prison. And as much as he hated both of them, they were family. And it was his duty to make sure his prisoners were well treated. Not burned to death.

As he grew nearer and nearer to the prison, he could feel the temperature rising, heat hitting his face in the cold night air.

He stopped, quickly tying his mount up. It would not do to scare the creature or risk injuring it. It rushed ahead on foot. It would have been useful to have Katara or Aang here but he would just have to do.

Arriving at the blaze, the intense infernio brought back unpleasant memories as it blasted his face. Zuko had long ago learned to ignore those thoughts. He took his stance and tried to bring the flames under his mastery, to pull them away from the building and to let them disappear into the cold night air. It was the only thing he could think of to save the trapped prisoners.

Sweat broke across his brow, muscles burned as he pulled the flames away, trying to destroy them. He could feel the water trickling down his neck from the strain that he was exerting. His father was in there. The man that he despised. The man he had once cared about. His sister was in there. She had always lied to him. She had laughed and played with him when they were young. A hazy memory. He couldn't let them die. He couldn't let anyone die.

Suddenly there was a woosh and the screams of shocked men. Zuko's attention broke to see that the well had exploded. Water shot out and into the shy before hitting the burning prison and smothering the flames, carefully going through the windows. There was a tenderness in the water that Zuko knew meant that they bender was attempting to make sure that the liquid did not harm any of the occupants.

Looking up, Zuko saw Appa, flying low. Katara was on his head, bending the water. In the light of the moon, she stood proud, almost like a spirit with her complete mastery over water. The flames out, she released the water and it fell lightly to the ground. And Zuko had the chance to think. Concern crept into his heart as he wondered why it was Katara flying Appa rather than Aang.

* * *

><p>Sokka hated flying at night. But they had been left with very little choice. They had been travelling during the day non-stop and with the lights of the Fire Nation capital in sight as they came down for the evening, it had been decided that they would camp out one more night and then catch up with Zuko in the morning. If it could be called catching up with the news that they had to tell.<p>

But it seemed that it would be only an hour after landing that they would be up again. From where they were, the alarm bells could be heard and when they took to the skies the sight of a burning prison had greeted them. There were no doubt about what they should do. They headed straight towards the building. Now was no time for barbequed bad guy.

So while Katara water bended way and got rid of the flames, the Water Tribe warrior sat with a protective arm around Aang. The airbender was staring into space, grey eyes devoid of their usual sparkle, hands clenched around his glidder.

"Aang, it's OK," Sokka said softly to the young monk who didn't even seem to hear his words. Lips pressed together as Sokka withheld any other comments. He was concerned and he knew that any attempts to lighten the situation wouldn't help out the situation. He had found that out days ago.

As soon as they landed, Aang got up, Sokka's arm falling off from his shoulders as the Avatar stood up. Sokka hurriedly followed his lead and Momo flew onto the airbender's shoulders.

What a sight greeted them. Sokka missed seeing Zuko when he wasn't having to wear formal robes that his role as Fire Lord required.

"Zuko!" He greeted. "Glad to get out and see some action?" It was a point of pride for Sokka that he still got to go out and do a lot more practical work than Aang's old firebending teacher. Katara elbowed him in the gut.

"Hey, Katara!" He protested.

"Zuko, what happened?" She asked, concern in her voice. Trust Katara to force everything to be serious. Spoilsport.

"I don't know," Zuko admitted, looking away slightly. "When I heard the alarms I got up to come here but I was attacked…" He said, frowning.

"Attacked? Who by?"

"I don't know. She was a Water Bender, she kept herself encased in water. And could heal herself."

"Never heard of anyone like that," Sokka said, thoughtfully, stroking his jaw as if he had a beard.

"Me neither," Katara added.

"Mhm." Zuko nodded, before his amber gaze moved from the two. They followed his gaze. Aang was by Appa, gently tending to the sky bison.

"What…" Zuko said, appearing to be searching for words.

"We'll explain once we get inside," Sokka said, voice suddenly serious. Katara placed a hand on her arm and looked away, blue eyes almost watering with tears. Sokka knew that Zuko was watching and calculating, trying to figure out what had happened.

* * *

><p>They had flown back on Appa. Zuko had left instructions with his men to inform him of any updates. They were searching for the prison, attempting to find out where the fire had started and the damages. To see whether anyone had died. Zuko did not show his concern. He could not afford it. No matter what happened, the Fire Lord had to be strong, a beacon to his people. Weakness was not be afforded and any emotions he had were secondary to his duty. It was a heavy burden to bare.<p>

They now sat in the living room, sitting around a tabe, cups of tea in their hands. It wasn't as good as Uncle's, Zuko thought as he sipped the calming beverage. In the light he could see that Katara looked rough, as if she had been struggling to sleep, Sokka looked more guarded and Aang seemed cold.

"It happened about a week ago," Katara started, staring into her cup of tea, holding it with two hands as if seeking its warmth.

"We were heading back to the South Pole to visit Gran-Gran and help with some of the building." Sokka continued when his sister showed no sign of offering any more words. Zuko's attention moved to him.

"We'd just woken up when she attacked. It was like pow pow! Yah yah! And then she did something to Aang. Like she drew fire out of him or something and then he collapsed and Katara hit the Firebender and she ran away," Sokka explained.

"Drew fire out of him?" Zuko asked, leaning forwards with a frown. He hadn't heard of anything like that.

"Life," Aang spoke up for the first time from the corner he sat in, gently stroking Momo who was stretched out on his lap. Zuko's eyes widened.

"It's like how fire is a life." Aang continued, sounding pretty lifeless as he stared at the flying lemur while he spoke instead of looking up at the others.

"You should feel honoured! Aang barely said that much since we were attacked!" Sokka said to Zuko. Katara wacked him on the head as she passed by him to wrap her arms around the boy.

"What?" Sokka complained. "Someone had to provide the light entertainment."

"Now's not the time," Zuko said, getting up and moving towards Aang. Sokka was left alone, looking rather affronted.

"Can you help?" Katara asked, sounding like she was on the verge of breaking down.

"I don't know how," Zuko admitted, sitting opposite the Avatar. What would Uncle do?

"Please," Tears were in her eyes as she spoke and Zuko frowned, trying to think of a way to help his friend. He noticed that Aang did gently place a hand on Katara's, in a comforting manor.

"I don't think it's the sort of thing that Zuko can help with," Aang said softly, staring ahead.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said, looking down. This was gave news. Two attacks by strange benders, the prison burned and his friend seeming to have lost the will to live.

There was a knock on the door.

"Fire Lord Zuko, we have the report," The voice announced.

"Give me a minute," He told his friends. He was loath to leave them at this time but he had no choice. Opening the door, he gave a nod to the solider to give him the news.

"Three quarters of the prisoners survived. Of that, two thirds have been injured. The fire seemed to have started in… in Ozai's cell. He didn't survive. And…" The solider swallowed.

"Continue," Zuko's voice was hardened. He would have all the news.

"Your sister, Azula. She's missing. We can find her at all."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: So, this is my first new fanfic in a while and my very first Avatar: The Last Airbender one so I hope that you've enjoyed the first Chapter of this story. Hopefully I can update within the week.<p>

Until then, stay flammin' hotmen!


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